Vigneshvijaykk

Trekker looked around the cave to see if Luna had left her belongings. She had picked up most of her stuff but had left behind an anklet. He wasn’t sure if it was intentional, but he took it with him. 

He tried to look for traces of her footsteps but it was fall season and there were dead leaves and flowers everywhere. He wandered around the cave for a while, hoping to find her. And he did!

She was sitting on a thick branch of a tree, lazily holding onto a fruit hanging close to her. 

“I can’t believe you are too fragile to pick up the fruit,” he teased.

She had seen him coming toward her much before but she acted like she just noticed him.

“Ah you! You came looking for me. How nice!” she said with a limited smile. “I’m not trying to pluck the fruit,” she added.

“I see! You are showing it love then?”

She giggled. “I’m just … I don’t know what I’m doing. Doesn’t matter” she said, letting it go. “Come on. Take me to your village.” She dropped her feet and landed on the ground. 

“Don’t you want to go look for your family?”

“I don’t think they will still be there. They are probably headed to your village, like you said. Let’s go. Fast. Fast!” She commanded and walked ahead without looking back. 

He smiled at her attitude and followed. 

They walked past the cave and she noticed the landscape properly now. “This place is so breezy. Where I come from, the weather is much hotter.” 

“I have never been much far from this place. This is all I have ever known” 

“You can visit my town someday. It is hot but it is actually nice. We have much bigger waters there”

They calmed down a bit when they saw an elephant group pass them by. She was a bit shaken and she grabbed his arm and clung to his side until they were well past the animals. 

“Told you, they don’t do any harm.”

“Did they tell you that?” she asked him sarcastically and pulled away.

He smiled and remembered her anklet that he had picked up. “Here, you left this in the cave” 

She received it with gratitude. “Thanks a ton, trekker. This is very dear to me. But did you find the other piece?” 

“No, I saw only one.” 

“I don’t know where the one must be. Hopefully in the cave. Nobody comes there you said?” 

“Yes, if it’s in the cave, we can always go back and fetch it.” 

They continued walking and they reached his village. A few huts showed up first, and as they walked further the village opened up properly.

Trekker smiled back at people who smiled at him, and noticed how they looked at Luna enquiringly. She had a stark contrast to the women in the village, in how she dressed and walked. There was a confident stiffness in her that the villagers hadn’t seen in women.

Luna smiled along with him and whispered “This feels nice. Everyone is looking at me like I’m a queen” 

“People look that way at anything they haven’t seen before. For example last week they saw a monkey helping a lady tie flowers together, and they had this same exact look” he muttered with a chuckle.

She frowned at him briefly and stepped on his toes without drawing attention. 

They reached a slightly larger hut and he paused. “This is the village chief’s hut. She also happens to be my mother. I will have to introduce you to her first before you can stay here. Shall we?” he asked.

She nodded and they entered the hut. 

An aged woman who looked more energetic than her age should allow, was cooking in the hut. She turned her head when they entered.

“Ah trekker. Went to the cave again did you? And who is this adorable girl you have with you?” 

“She is Luna. She is from a nearby town it seems, and she was lost. It was already dark when we met, so we stayed at the cave last night.”

The lady got up and walked toward them with a smile. “Welcome to our village Luna. We call it the Maple grove. And I’m Ivy. What is your town called?”

Luna smiled wide and said “Palm grove. It sounds similar right?” 

Ivy smiled back. “Sweetie. You must be tired. The cave is no place for a young woman like you.” She turned to Trekker and said “Take her and help her get fresh. Feed her, and let her rest. And then come back to me. You have work” 

Trekker nodded and walked away with Luna.

He took her to the bathhouse and let her relax while he went to collect food. They both ate quietly. She was a bit cautious due to the new environment and he was thinking about what his mother meant by work. She rarely asks him to do things. 

After they ate, he took Luna to his hut and let her rest there and he went off to see him mother. 

She was talking to a couple of his siblings. His brother Coconut, and his sister Rabbit greeted him as he entered. He sat next to them and joined the conversation. 

“To get you up to speed, Trekker, Glory hunter has been missing for a few days. He usually comes home for the full moon, no matter where he is, but this time he didn’t. We are worried about him. I’m afraid you will have to go looking for him. Take these two with you.”

Trekker nodded and listened to his mother as she told him everything else he needs to know. The three of them walked away to collect supplies. Trekker went to meet Luna to tell her about this, and to assure her she will be safe in the village. k

She was resting with her eyes closed when he entered his hut. He let her rest and quietly picked up an axe, a rope, and a few other things. She wasn’t asleep. She subtly watched him as he walked around and slowly sat up. 

“Hey, I thought you were asleep” 

“New place. I can’t sleep that easily,”  She smiled. “Where are you going?”

“I have a task. A brother’s missing. I will come back and tell you more about it.” 

“No, take me with you. I can help. I’m good at finding stuff.” she said eagerly, standing up right away.

“No, it’s risky, and you are probably tired already.”

“Nonsense. You are lucky you have me for support. I’m coming with you” she said and she started picking supplies for herself. 

Trekker smiled. This woman!

They started off by afternoon, and the four of them walked back to the cave since that’s where the paths that lead to the outside world begin. 

They decided to rest a bit inside the cave and when they entered they were greeted by a dead person. The look on the siblings’ faces told Luna that this must be the person that they were looking for. She looked at Trekker for confirmation and he nodded. 

Glory hunter was laid neatly with his arms folded across his belly. A dagger was struck at his chest. When Luna looked at his legs she noticed her anklet in his left leg. She pointed it out to the other three. 

“I think my family might have killed him” she said indifferently.